About Last Night
by Abagail Snow
Summary: Set between Sectionals and Hello, Finn and Rachel do a little bit more than "kind of date" and on the morning after, discuss the events. Light angst, primarily morning after humor.


**A/N:** So I'm not completely on board the whole Finn/Rachel train, but this is how I imagine the morning after would be like. It takes place after _Sectionals_ and uses the idea that they are kind of dating from _Hello_.

**About Last Night**

"Finn, about last night."

She claims not to care what other people think of her, but that's a lie. She thrives upon in it. Compliments are like a drug to her and without criticism she will never reach the perfection that she strives for. Everything she does is bigger and more extravagant than others. Not to be outdone by the pony rides Charlene Hector offered at her seventh birthday party, Rachel Berry's dads brought in two giant elephants from the Columbus Zoo.

"Hey, Rach," Finn says carefully from his locker.

"I think it's important for us to be open and honest if we want this relationship to work," she begins. "In the theater, after the first show, a critic will write a review about the..." she's blushing now and she can feel it. Her cheeks are warm to the touch and it reminds her that she's not the type of person to take these things personally. "About the performance," she finally regains her composure. "About the things they liked and the things that could use... improvement."

Finn presses his lips together. "Oh, like a post game wrap up?" He knows that they don't have much in common but he thinks he can make it work. He figures as long as remembers her favorite color, which is easy: pink, and if he can name at least five musicals, like... um... _Rock of Ages?_...and... well if he can remember one musical, that they'll be okay. He knows that she'll never hurt him on purpose and that's enough for him right now.

Rachel is not on board with this comparison to sports commentary, but is willing to make an exception. Compromises are important for a relationship to flourish. "Kind of, I guess."

He knows where this conversation is going. Her eyes are wider than usual and she's pressing her books so tightly against her chest that her shoulders are touching her ears. "Of the... the sex?"

She can feel the heat in her cheeks again and steps closer dropping her voice to nearly a whisper. "Yes," she says. She steps back and takes a deep breath. Sure she doesn't want to know how he feels about her, but sex is a performance and she wants to be good at it. She wants to be better at it than the president of the celibacy club ever could be. "I thought you were really sweet," she says, fishing for compliments.

Finn grins, "Oh that's cool, because Puck told me if you drink pineapple juice it makes it taste better but I didn't know if it actually worked."

"What?"

"Oh... you meant..." Finn recognizes his error quickly. "Yeah, it was nice." He pauses thoughtfully. "I wasn't sure you were really into it though; you..." _sounded like a porn star_ "...were kind of making these really loud noises."

"Isn't that what you're supposed to do?" Rachel Berry has not had much exposure to the sexual arts. When playing the role of sexual partner she draws from three aides as motivation: The sex scene in _Top Gun,_ any music video featuring Prince, and the song "Contact" in _Rent_ performed entirely under a latex sheet.

Finn frowns, "I don't know, it kind of sounded like you were faking it or something." He and Quinn had never really gotten far, but in his experience he knows that porn scenes are not an accurate representation of how a girl reacts during the act.

_Because I was. _She gulps and shakes her head furiously. "Of course not."

"That's good. Look I'm sorry that it didn't last very long. I was kind of..." _quick on the trigger_ "... tired."

"How long was it supposed to last?"

He smiles nervously with a side of relief. 37 seconds is a new record for him and that's for longest time before erupting, which is pretty terrible. Worst is the fact that he killed around 8 mailmen in the process and therefore didn't even get to enjoy most of the sex part. "Never mind."

"I just wasn't sure if you really liked it," she prods.

Shattering windshields? A mother's horrific shrieking? A neck brace clad mailman glaring at him for four months straight? "Why would you say that?"

"Well, right after you got dressed really quickly," she explains.

"I had to get home." Finn defends, "I was really..." _embarrassed._"...tired."

"You got back in bed with your shoes on and went to sleep," she finishes.

"I was cold."

"Look Finn, I know I'm not as pretty or popular as Quinn, and that sometimes I care about things too much."

"That's good though..." he interrupts before considering the statement further. "...kind of. You know to be passionate about stuff."

"I just know you probably never pictured your first time with someone like me."

"Well a few months ago I didn't even know who you were, and when I did, I was a little scared of you…" he realizes then that sensitivity isn't always his strong suit. "But you're really cool Rachel. I can be myself around you and I never feel like I'm disappointing you… well at least when I disappoint you I actually see where you're coming from." He places a hand on her shoulder and wonders if this is too informal for somebody you've just been intimate with. His first instinct is to grab her breast, that's intimate, but he's smart enough to know that that's inappropriate, he's also smart enough to realize that looking at her chest while he's contemplating his next move is not going to help the point he's trying to make. Instead he moves his hand to cup her cheek. "I know things are moving kind of fast after the whole thing with Quinn and the baby, and I know I'm not always good about talking about my feelings and stuff… but I really do like you."

He kisses her for emphasis, but if he were really being honest he'd tell her that he just isn't ready. He does like her, he really does, but his mind is still reeling from what Quinn and Puck did to him. He deserves to be happy at some point. He deserves to have the sex that he'd already been punished for and to have a girlfriend that won't put him down all the time.

She wants to believe him. She wants to believe that this romance could be epic and that it's not just a rebound thing. She wants him to be truly and madly in love with her but because it's Finn she knows he never will be. Finn's used to blond beauties with long eyelashes and lush lips. The fact that he's with her now is because it's better than the alternative of being totally and utterly alone.

She bows her head shyly, which is a totally un-Rachel like thing to do but she's so out of her element now she doesn't know how Rachel Berry would react in a situation like this. She clears her throat and raises her chin proudly. "You know, I read in a magazine that if the girl is on top it helps the guy from…" _erupting_ "… getting tired too quickly." She states matter of factly. Confidence. No matter how she's feeling on the inside she has to look confident on the outside. "Maybe we could try that next time."

Finn's face flashes three different emotions in the blink of an eye. Busted is portrayed with tight lips, rosy cheeks and knitted brows. Shock then takes over with wide eyes and brows so high it looks like he might have gotten a face lift. Then teenage boy fantasy settles into place with a goofy grin and a head that won't stop nodding. "That would be really awesome."

She smiles too. "Yeah," she says. Now all she can do is show him what he'd been missing. Show him that she can give him more than Quinn ever could. That she could love him more.


End file.
